BiblioAddict

I don’t have anything in particular to post about today. This morning, I flew to Phoenix, Arizona (for work, again), and naturally, I packed at least six books, two Vanity Fairs (September and October issues), and I think four New Yorkers. Despite the many books in my bag, however, I spent most of the flight with my September issue of Vanity Fair:

The most entertaining article was, “On the Limits of Self-Improvement, Part 1” by Christopher Hitchens, author of the anti-god polemic GOD IS NOT GREAT. The article’s tag line reads:

“There’s an entire micro-economy based on the pursuit of betterment. The author – 58, full-figured, and ferocious in his consumption of cigarettes and scotch – agreed to test its limits, starting with the Executive De-Stress Treatment at a high end spa“

The summary Hitchens’ VF coworkers give of his health and appearance describes a man who could use a little spa treatment (I didn’t know it was physically possible to smoke in the shower, did you?). Here’s Hitchens on the proper follow-up to a rejuvenating and relaxing massage and body scrub:

Now, I don’t know about you, but with me a feeling of fitness and well-being always lends extra zest to the cocktail hour. And what’s a cocktail without a smoke? And what else gives you a better appetite for dinner?…And a meal without wine is like a day without sunshine, as they say in France. And so the long night wore on agreeably enough.

Sigh. Shall there be any help for this man? Well we’ll see in this month’s issue of VF in which the subject “confronts extreme smoking cessation, high-end dentistry, bespoke tailoring, cold-turkey booze withdrawal, and ultimate waxing.” I hope at the end of this, Hitchens manages to lead an even slightly healthier life. Otherwise, he might be finding out sooner than later just how great God is, or isn’t.

Speaking of vice, I suppose this would be the perfect segue into the my biblio-covets of the week, beginning with:

THE BOOK OF VICE: VERY NAUGHTY THINGS (AND HOW TO DO THEM) by Peter Sagal. I admit that there’s probably no other reason for me buying this except that Sagal hosts the NPR news quiz show, Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, which I absolutely enjoy. From PW: NPR host Sagal offers a hilarious, harmlessly prurient look at the banality of regular people’s strange and wicked pleasures… He describes the three necessary elements of vice that distinguish it from sin and give it that irresistible frisson: social disapprobation, actual pleasure and shame. A buttoned-up journalist and family man, Sagal visits the respective dens of inequity, interviewing the principals in the name of research while preserving his academic irony…Sagal is a terrific, lively writer, and while some of his segments are repetitive and stretched, he is admirable in humanizing the participants.

THE DEAD TRAVEL FAST: STALKING VAMPIRES FROM NOSFERATU TO COUNT CHOCULA by Eric Nuzum. This is a little after the season, but I figure, hey if the Simpsons can do it, so can I. From Library Journal: Nuzum taps into a pervasive thirst for vampire mythology and culture. His examination of the enduring popularity of everyone’s favorite monster is oddly respectful as well as hilariously irreverent. Discussions of the real Vlad Dracula, and of Bram Stoker’s background and writing, are informative, and the author’s acute psychological observations are enlightening. The flesh-and-blood of the book, however, is Nuzum’s willingness to throw himself into his research, often with hysterically funny results. He drank his own blood, saw 605 vampire movies (overwhelmingly awful), took a vampire tour of San Francisco led by Countess Mina, went on a tacky and sometimes dangerous vampire tour of Romania, did a stint as a vampire in a haunted house, and attended a Dark Shadows convention. With heavy doses of self-deprecating humor, Nuzum recounts these experiences while slyly exposing the silliness of vampire culture.

In other news, thanks in large part to my own festering dissatisfaction, and to Brandon, I’ve begun contemplating a move to TypePad. I’ve been enjoying WordPress, really I have, but I really, really wish they’d come out with a greater variety of layouts. I think what I really need to do is simply learn how to do some web design. But I’m about as likely to do that as I am to cook a gourmet meal. In other words, I’d really like to one day, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon.

And, for those of you still wondering – yes, I have decided to kill myself this month: I am doing both NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo.  I have gone mad. Then again, I suppose it’s not that hard to do when you’re already half-way there. Many wishes of luck will be greatly appreciated. I’ll need all that I can get.